


No Strings

by PotatoesAreAwesome



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Adult Ciel Phantomhive, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Human Sebastian Michaelis, Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:13:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24240094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoesAreAwesome/pseuds/PotatoesAreAwesome
Summary: Just a Sebastian x Ciel AU based on the film No Strings Attached. I actually wrote this ages ago and found it lurking around on my computer today. I thought I might as well finish and upload it to have something to do whenever I get stuck with my other story.Sebastian and Ciel made fast friends at a birthday party when they were paired up for seven minutes in heaven together. Since then, they've occasionally crossed paths, swapped numbers and loosely kept in touch. When Sebastian's brother calls him with surprising news, Sebastian gets drunk and winds up crashing at Ciel's place. Not looking for a relationship, Ciel proposes that they start a relationship based on sex: no jealousy, no romance, and definitely no falling in love.
Relationships: Agni/Soma Asman Kadar, Claude Faustus/Alois Trancy, Sebastian Michaelis/Ciel Phantomhive, William T. Spears/Grell Sutcliff
Comments: 9
Kudos: 19





	1. 7 Minutes in Heaven

_Fifteen years ago_

One. Two. Three . . .

"It's okay if you don't want to do this."

He was locked in the cloakroom playing seven minutes of heaven with was a very young-looking teenage boy. Sebastian figured his friends must be laughing at him right outside.

His kissing-partner seemed rather less concerned, however, and sat with his head leaned back against the wall casually. "What's the matter? Are you a bad kisser?" he teased.

Sebastian bristled. A cold sweat broke out on the back of his neck. "No!" he denied defensively.

"Then prove it." 

Blue eyes gleamed back mischievously, and Sebastian sat up a little straighter on the floor. "O-okay. . . Do I just put my hands on your waist or . . .?"

The boy raised a brow and a slow smile spread across his face.

"You've never actually kissed anyone before, have you?"

Sebastian felt his cheeks heat up at the accusation. 

"Please don't tell anyone," he murmured gazing at his feet in embarrassment.

If word got out about this, Hannah would never want to date him. He’d be the laughing stock of the whole school.

The boy’s hand hesitated before a hand reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Sebastian looked up and saw the stiff navy-haired boy awkwardly trying to comfort him. He appreciated the effort and peeked through his long dark hair sheepishly to offer a small smile in return.

"Thank you," he whispered.

He shuffled a bit closer till their shoulders touched and let out a long sigh of relief. For the first time since he'd been forced into the game, Sebastian felt like he could relax again. 

"So, how come I haven't seen you around before? Are you new here or something?"

"Oh no, just visiting actually.” The boy shrugged. “I’m Ciel: Elizabeth’s cousin. I came from boarding school to visit for her birthday party.”

So that’s why he didn’t seem to know anyone at the party. 

Ciel.

Sebastian committed the name to his memory. It sounded lovely. Fitting for a boy who was probably prettier than everyone at this whole party.

The boy laughed when Sebastian told him just that.

"Are you kidding me? Everyone here wants to be trapped in this room with _you_. You're like the Ian Somerhalder of your school or something. All I've heard since I got here is Sebastian this, Sebastian that. I'm probably going to get death stares for having wasted a turn with you once we get out of here."

Sebastian chuckled. "Well, I don't think it was a wasted turn. I was dreading coming in here till I met you. Guess I'm not quite as cool as everyone made me out to be, huh?"

"Kissing doesn't make you cool," Ciel scoffed.

Sebastian looked at the bluenette in disbelief.

“You’re not like the other boys our age, are you?”

He shrugged.

"It’s just a stupid game. I don’t think you should feel like you have to play if you really don't want to.”

"Shall I just sit out all by my self then?" Sebastian joked. Like it was even an option for someone like him. People had expectations. He was the biggest flirt in their school. Imagine how everyone would react if they found out it was all just bravado to cover for his insecurities because he really didn't have the balls to make a move on anyone.

Ciel chewed his lips for a few moments.

"I’ll sit out too if you want."

"You'd do that?"

“Sure. It’s not like I enjoy kissing strangers anyway.”

Sebastian glanced at the boy’s lips. They looked soft and pink.

Perhaps kissing Ciel wouldn’t be as bad as he first thought. He’d never considered kissing a boy before. The idea excited him more than he expected it to.

“Who would you enjoy kissing?” Sebastian’s throat felt dry, and his voice came out hoarse when he spoke.

Staring at Ciel did weird fluttery things to his stomach.

The other boy leaned in close. His breath tickled against Sebastian’s face when he spoke.

“Hippocrates,” he whispered. “But he’s been dead for over 2000 years.”

“What?”

His brain had stopped the moment Ciel moved closer to him.

All he had to do to close that last gap was inch forwards.

Sebastian cupped the boy's cheek, licked his lips nervously and-

“-Ciel! There you are.”

The two boys sprang apart when the door burst open and a handsome well-dressed man with a beauty mark under his left eye held out his hand for the two boys to get up.

“Up to mischief as usual, I suppose?” he asked smiling kindly.

Sebastian realised he looked a lot like Ciel with navy-dark dark hair and high cheekbones.

He avoided eye contact with the two and pretended to be overly interested in the dust he brushed off of his pants.

“Something like that, Father,” the younger teen smirked, and Sebastian felt a pair of eyes slide over to him. “Is it time to go?”

Ciel’s father nodded, and Sebastian walked them to the front door with Elizabeth.

“Thank you for coming, Ciel. I feel like I haven’t seen enough of you lately,” the blonde girl complained clinging to her cousin.

Ciel smiled politely while he looked like he was being crushed to death and offered his cousin a small, consolidating pat on the back.

“I’ll be down again soon,” he promised gently.

Blue eyes found Sebastian, and Elizabeth offered to walk her Uncle over to his car.

“So, I guess I might see you around then?”

Ciel smiled, and Sebastian couldn’t fight the grin that found its way onto his own lips. “Maybe. Maybe next time you won’t be too afraid to lean in for that kiss,” he teased. Sebastian chuckled and watched him leave.

Suddenly kissing anyone else didn’t seem as scary to Sebastian anymore. He decided to brave continuing with the game and finally made out with his long-time crush Hannah Annafellows.

It was nice, if not a little bit underwhelming after all the build-up he’d done in his own head. He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d have felt the same had Ciel had been his first kiss instead. Sebastian promised himself then and there that if he ever got the chance to kiss Ciel again, he definitely wouldn’t be too afraid to take it.


	2. What Could've Been

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still can't believe I wrote this on a whim and never did anything with it. Ah well, I scrubbed up another chapter because it's easier than working on anything new for The Demon Watchdog right now. You can see more similarities to the film in this chapter.

_Five years later._

Coming here might’ve been a mistake.

The nightclub was a sweatbox of people all grinding against each other to a loud bass that vibrated against the floor underneath Ciel’s feet.

It was too loud. People everywhere were drinking, touching and bumping into one another.

The air was warm and the floor sticky. Ciel had a hard time trying not to cringe every time he took a step forwards.

He needed to find Soma quickly, make up some bullshit excuse to leave this cesspit and breathe fresh air again. Ciel wasn’t in the best mood for drinking anyway. He was a messy whirlwind of emotions right now and alcohol would only make that worse. He couldn’t afford to not stay in control.

Ciel pushed his way through the masses till he caught sight of a familiar pair of crimson eyes and a devilishly charming smile. He stood with a group of people on a podium dancing carelessly.

The taller male's features had sharpened over the years and puberty had done wonderful things to his body but Ciel recognised him immediately. He ground his hips into a large-chested woman with curly dark who danced provocatively in front of him.

Their eyes met for a moment as Ciel walked past, and he smiled to himself

Good for him. He'd obviously overcome his insecurities.

“Ciel! Ciel, you’re here!” Soma’s hand pulled at his sleeve and dragged him away from his thoughts. “What are you wearing?” Warm hands pulled off Ciel’s coat. “What’s with the mouse onesie. This is a pyjama party. Is that what you wear for bed?”

“It gets cold in my room,” he huffed, crossing his arms as he took note of Soma’s yellow shorts and purple basketball vest. It seemed he was expected to wear something a little more revealing.

Ciel bundled himself more tightly in his oversized, grey mouse onesie. It WAS warm in here and he had boxers on underneath. He wouldn’t be the only guy here just wearing his underwear if he wanted to take it off, but he felt a little self-conscious next to his beautiful, bronze friend.

His eyes searched the room again and locked onto a pair of crimson eyes as the tall, dark-haired male seemed to have lost the lady with the red slip and was walking towards him with recognition glowing faintly behind unfocused eyes.

“You’re a very sexy mouse.”

“Excuse me?” Ciel laughed unexpectedly.

“I think I’d like to have you for dinner.” The taller male purred, leaning over him suggestively.

“I’m not exactly take-out material.” He wasn't anything material. As enticing as he might be, a one-night stand was the last thing on his mind.

Sebastian chuckled. “You seem awfully familiar to me, are an ex hook up?"

"No." Ciel bit back a grin.

"Do you want to be?"

Ciel snorted. “Does that line usually work for you?”

Sebastian shrugged smiling, and Ciel got the distinct impression that it probably did.

“You sure are different from the person too scared to have his first kiss, playing seven minutes of heaven at fifteen."

Sebastian choked on his drink and looked at Ciel like he’d just been dunked in ice water.

“Ciel!” he spluttered, suddenly a lot more sober and looking like the shy, awkward teenager that Ciel remembered.

“What are you doing here?” he groaned, sounding only a touch mortified.

“I’m studying here.”

Sebastian’s eyes lit up with disbelief. “Really? How come I’ve never seen you around Oxford Brooks?”

“I’m at Oxford University.”

“Nerd,” Sebastian coughed. “What are you’re like some rich, genius or something?”

Ciel shrugged. “Pretty much. You know, when I’m not out hitting the bars in my mouse onesie, I’m busy finding cures for cancer, working on gene therapy and curing genetic diseases.”

Sebastian looked a bit self-conscious for a moment.

“Really?”

“No. I’m just kidding. I’m always hitting the bars in my mouse onesie.”

Sebastian chuckled and brushed some of Ciel’s hair behind his ear.

“This might sound strange, but would you mind if I kissed you?”

Ciel smiled.

“You're drunk."

"Yeah I'm drunk, but I also want to kiss you. I promised myself when I was fifteen if I ever saw you again, I wouldn’t be too afraid to kiss you."

That stupid smile on Sebastian's face was enough to make Ciel blush. He hadn’t forgotten the other male after all this time either, but to think Sebastian that thought about kissing him too made his stomach clench in a nervous knot.

Warm, large hands held the sides of his face and crimson eyes looked at him with such an intensity that Ciel felt queasy.

“I have to be somewhere tomorrow,” he said quickly. “Do you want to come with me?.”

Sebastian smiled lazily. “Will I get a kiss afterwards?”

“We’ll see,” he shrugged, and Sebastian nodded like a happy puppy.

"Okay then, Yeah. Where is it? Do you want me to come pick you up?

“Actually, I’ll pick you up,” he said with some finality. God knows what possessed him to make such a decision, but the thought of facing tomorrow alone suddenly seemed too much to bear.

_____________________________

Sebastian stood ramrod straight with his head bowed and arms clasped tightly in front of him.

"It is time now to bid our final farewell to Rachel Phantomhive: beloved wife, mother, sister and friend. We commit her body to the ground, looking for the blessed hope that our saviour, shall raise you up on the last day. You gave her life, receive her in your peace and give her, through Jesus Christ, a joyful resurrection. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

He was surrounded by a sea of people mourning in black, wearing his ripped jeans, a leather jacket and a white T-shirt that read ' I'm a virgin' and 'this is an old T-shirt' in fine print.

He shouldn't be here. He felt ridiculously out of place. Everyone was holding onto each other crying, and Ciel hadn’t even looked at him since the service started. His hand clasped his father's shoulder while a woman with flaming-red hair wept loudly beside him. He didn't know any of these people. He couldn’t offer sufficient comfort, not even to Ciel who he’d met twice before already, so he did the only thing he could think of in this situation. He stayed quiet, still and respectful. 

People expressed their condolences as they started to leave the graveyard. Guests lined up to speak to Ciel and his father, who Sebastian had learned through the service was called Vincent Phantomhive. He remembered him from the party when he came to collect Ciel and was sad to see the handsome face he remembered look so vacant and weathered.

He took Vincent’s outstretched hand and boldly reached in for a hug when he saw him. "I'm sorry for your loss, Sir."

Sebastian pulled back to see Ciel’s father look absently surprised. "Thank you, young man. And you are?"

"This is Sebastian, Father. You caught us together at a party once when we were teens," Ciel filled in playfully.

Vincent’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not the boy with the tattoos are you?”

Ciel coughed. “Wrong party. I meant the one at Elizabeth’s. I was a little younger then.”

A faint smile twitched at the older man's lips. "Ah, yes. I didn't realise you two had stayed in touch. Should I have been more worried?" he asked them mildly.

Blue eyes glanced over at him with a wicked gleam. "No, not then. Now, however . . . "

Sebastian looked between the two Phantomhive men and slowly zipped his jacket up.

Vincent’s eyes zoned in on the t-shirt, and he raised a brow that Sebastian pretended to not notice. Perhaps he should go. This wasn’t going well, and he didn't want to intrude any more than he already had by being here.

"Ciel!" Elizabeth threw her arms around her cousin and uncle, tears pooling in her emerald eyes. "I'm staying at your place tonight. No arguments. You two shouldn't be alone right now,” she sniffed. Her eyes met his, and Elizabeth stared at him curiously. “Sebastian?" She pulled away from Ciel to slip her arms beneath his in a brief hug.

He squeezed back trying to offer some kind of comfort.

“I haven’t seen you in ages, when did you and Ciel get together?"

"We didn’t, he just wants to make out with me."

Sebastian froze. Ciel smirked and Elizabeth blushed.

"This is the nicest funeral I've ever attended, Sir," he said to the pained face of Ciel's father.

A small twinkle of amusement shone in the youngest Phantomhive's eyes.

____________

He ended up deciding to stay for the entire day and went back to Ciel’s house for the reception. Sebastian was impressed by the wealth of the place. They had about eight acres of land with lots of trees, potted plants and roses. Ciel must have enjoyed growing up in a place with such a lavish garden, and Sebastian admired the view outside the window as he washed a few glasses that people had left in the sink.

Ciel and his father were talking outside, and the young male unbuttoned his coat to wrap it around the older Phantomhive’s frame. Vincent was bigger than his son but the oversized trench sat nicely around his shoulders as they admired the roses in the garden. They were white like the ones at the funeral service.

Sebastian wondered if they’d been her favourite.

Elizabeth came into the kitchen with an armful of plates, shaking Sebastian from his thoughts.

"Let me get that for you Elizabeth." He rushed to take them off her hands and washed the plates in the sink not knowing what else to do with himself.

"You're too kind Sebastian."

He blinked, looking over his shoulder to see Elizabeth leaning against the counter with a tired look on her face. She'd been seeing to all the guests while the Phantomhives were outside, making sure that they weren't disturbed by anyone for a little while.

Sebastian remembered she was always well thought of at school. Perhaps this was why.

"I wouldn't go that far, Miss Elizabeth," he confessed softly. "I'm not sure I would've even come had I have known what Ciel invited me to today." He felt ashamed to admit it out loud. Ciel must've invited him for a reason, and he might've let him go through today alone if he had known about it.

"Well, I'm glad for Ciel's sake that you did," Elizabeth said at last.

"Me too," he admitted.

Ciel chose that moment to walk through the door. "Hey, so I'm ready to drive you home if you're still wanting a lift back, Sebastian?"  
  
With a nod, he bid farewell his Ciel’s family and went to get his jacket.

The ride back in the car was silent save for the radio playing softly in the background.

Ciel pulled up outside Sebastian’s student accommodation and shut off the engine.

"Thanks for today," he said finally, staring at his hands on the steering wheel. “I’m really glad you stayed with me."

The soft look on Ciel’s face made Sebastian’s heart lurch. "Of course, I’m here whenever you need me. I even do pet’s funerals,” he tried to joke. “Free of charge!”

“No kissing fee next time?” Ciel remarked slyly.

Sebastian stared at his lips and sighed. “No kissing fee _this_ time.”

“What made you change your mind?” The bluenette inquired, and Sebastian couldn’t tell if he was upset or not.

“I just. I didn’t think you’d want-”

Warm lips captured him in a slow, soft kiss.

Sebastian’s scalp tingled pleasantly when gentle fingernails raked through his hair, and he sighed.

Ciel smelled like the flowers from his garden.

He curled his fingers around the smaller males waist and pressed his chest as close as he could, given their current positions.

Ciel was the first to first pull away, looking shocked and a little dazed.

“Can I call you?” Sebastian asked once he’d caught his breath. It was the first thing he could think that he wanted to say.

Kissing Ciel was better than he’d imagined it would be: better than Hannah, better than anyone he’d ever kissed before.

“Sebastian,” Ciel murmured, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t love the way he said his name like that.

“I’ve just lost my mother.”

Whatever high he’d been on at that point came to a screeching halt as reality crashed down over him.

“I don’t think I should be seeing anyone right now. Least of all a nice guy like you.”

Sebastian nodded, feeling hurt and a confused. What had been the point of all this?

“Some other time then,” he suggested dismally, knowing it was unlikely to happen.

He tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

When he left, Ciel’s didn’t even look at him. He just stared at his hands as Sebastian closed the car door.  
  
Ciel Phantomhive.  
  
Maybe it was good he didn't start anything with him. He was pretty sure he'd break his heart. 


	3. A Chance Encounter

_Three years later._

“Ciel! Ciel! This is amazing! Here, try this. Soma had a spoonful of spicy curry in his mouth before he could protest. He’d dragged him along to the Street Feast food festival featuring cuisines from all over the world.

He quickly downed the curry with a mouthful of bottled water and gasped as his eyes watered from the spicy food.

“What was that? Poison?” he choked out

Soma hugged him. “Oh my poor Ciel, I forgot how sensitive you are to spicy foods.” He nuzzled his face into his hair.

“We must find a palate cleanser at once!”

“No, no more food! If you eat anything more, you’ll be rolling home Soma.”

“Nonsense! You’re a very good friend, Ciel. You would carry me home.”

Ciel pried his arms back out of his grasp. “I most definitely would not. I’m a terrible friend. I would let you roll.”

How was it he’d stayed friends with this idiot?

“Then I must get you more to eat also, so that we can roll home together like true friends should. Wait right here, I’ve just seen something I must get for you. I will not stop on my quest to enlighten your bland English tastebuds!” he cried and ran off leaving Ciel to sigh after him in exhaustion.

He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

“Ciel?” A rich, velvety voice asked, and he looked up to see Sebastian standing arm in arm with a pretty, blonde boy. He looked good. Better than he’d remembered. Ciel had to fight back a blush as he recalled the kiss from their last encounter.

He hadn’t had sex in six months.

Why did he have to run into Sebastian when he was in the process of transitioning into a born again virgin? Where the hell was Soma? It was time to roll out of there as far as their full bellies would take them.

Instead of making a spectacular escape, Ciel put on his best polite smile. “Hi, Sebastian. Nice to see you again.”

“You too, I haven’t seen you since-”

“-yeah, since mum died . . . It’s been a really long time.” he nodded, not looking up at them.

They fell into an awkward silence.

“Bonjour,” Sebastian’s blonde friend introduced himself. “Je suis Alois.” He held out his hand for him to shake.

“Ah, ravi de vous rencontrer Alois. Je suis un vieil ami de Sebastian.”

The blonde stared dumbly at him and turned to Sebastian. “Sebastian, what’s wrong with your friend?”

“Sorry?” Ciel frowned.

Sebastian looked a little embarrassed, and Soma came running back with a packet tucked under his arm. “I’ve fallen in love Ciel,” Soma announced, throwing his arm around his neck and twirling around it. “Her name is Jalebi, and we’re going to take her back home to enjoy her both together.”

Sebastian blinked as he looked between them, and a small blush rose to his cheeks.

“FOOD!” Ciel choked out. “He’s talking about food. My God, Soma, think before you speak.”

The Indian beauty laughed and shook out his long ponytail.

“Where would the fun in that be?” He winked.

“This is your _friend_?” Sebastian frowned.

Ciel winced at the incredulous tone.

“BEST friend” Soma added wagging a finger at Sebastian. He narrowed his amber eyes as if only just realising he was there.

“Hey! Hang on a minute, I know you.”

Sebastian eyed him suspiciously and Ciel looked between the two of them curious as to why Soma had never mentioned him before.

“You do?”

“Yeah, we went to Oxford Brooks together. Seamore, was it?”

Ciel snorted inelegantly as Sebastian’s boyfriend glared. Sometimes Soma was just the right person to cheer him up.

“Sebastian,” he corrected with a scowl.

“Er, right . . . Sorry.” Soma apologised looking put out at the level of hostility he was treated to. “You’re Claude’s brother, right?”

If it were possible, it seemed as though Sebastian’s frown deepened, and Ciel decided to step in to save his friend from whatever scathing remark he seemed to have on his tongue.

“Soma! Don’t you think it’s time we went back home? My shift starts in a few hours, and I’d really like to get some sleep beforehand.” His friend looked dejectedly back towards the other stalls, and Ciel pinched the bag of food from under his friend's arms. If loved the food in this bag as much as he said he did, he’d surely follow him.

“We better get going too, babe. We don’t want to miss the party.” Alois pulled on Sebastian’s sleeve.

“Wait.” Sebastian grabbed onto his shoulder

“Do you want to . . . go out sometime? Maybe get a drink."

Ciel looked between Alois and Sebastian.

That sounded suspiciously like asking someone out on a date. It wasn’t, obviously, but from the look in Alois’s eyes, this was dangerous territory.

“Uh.” He gave what he hoped was an apologetic look to Alois. “Sure.” It wasn’t like he intended to follow through with it anyway.

Sebastian handed him his phone. “Just give me your number, and I’ll call you to arrange something.”

He typed in the first eight digits of his mobile and glanced up at Alois thinking about giving him the wrong last three digits when he noticed the blonde shaking his head with a vicious glare.  
  
Well.

That decided it then. 

Making a last-minute decision, he typed in the last three real digits to his number. It wasn’t like he was about to steal someone else’s boyfriend, but he sure as hell wouldn’t let someone else decide whether they could hang out as friends either. Not when nothing ever really happened between them anyway. It was just one little kiss.

“So, I’ll see you around?” Despite how they’d left things years ago, Sebastian sounded a teeny bit hopeful, and it made the guilt from their last encounter even heavier.  
  
Stupid Sebastian with his stupid smile.

Why couldn't he have just been mad at him?

It would've been a hell of a lot easier. 

Instead, he had to go around being all nice and make his stomach flutter in a way it had no business doing for someone else's boyfriend. 

"Sure thing,” he grinned.

And he was screwed. 

So very, very screwed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation (according to Google - I'm certainly no French expert): Ah, ravi de vous rencontrer Alois. Je suis un vieil ami de Sebastian = Nice to meet you, Alois. I’m an old friend of Sebastian’s


End file.
